


Now What?

by musikfurfreiheit



Category: Tarja, Within Temptation (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-25 17:14:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4969480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musikfurfreiheit/pseuds/musikfurfreiheit





	1. Intro

** Now What? **

****

Cursing the almighty god is so much easier when no one knows what you’re saying.

The Dutch words rolled over her lips as Sharon looked down on coffee stain on her shirt, the skating boy who’d caused it not even looking back. With a sigh she grabbed the handle of her suitcase and dragged it along as she walked towards the entrance of the hotel, tossing the now empty Starbucks cup in the first trashcan she saw. She then placed her free hand against the glass door of the hotel, trying to push open the door before noticing the elegant written ‘Tirez’ on it.

Once the door fell shut behind her, it was as if she’d stepped into another world. Paris was known for being a loud and noisy place, but the lobby of the hotel was surprisingly calm. Sharon recognized Beethoven’s music that was whispered by the speakers in the ceiling, the staff whispered as they took over each other’s jobs and all of it was so silent that the footsteps that were approaching her almost seemed loud.

‘What happened to you?’ Tarja asked after stopping the attempt to hug her Dutch friend.

‘A kid skated into when I got out of the taxi.’

‘And you were so shocked by it that you tried to push open a pull-door?’

‘You saw that, huh?’

With a smile the smaller Finnish woman grabbed Sharon’s arm and pulled her towards the elevator. They told each other about how the journey for their homes in The Netherlands and Argentina to the capital of France had been while they made their way towards room 623. The first thing Sharon noticed when she entered was the fact that there was just one bed, meaning the two of them would share more than just the room for a week.

‘I am so glad to finally have a week off!’ Tarja let out as she let herself fall down on the bed. ‘And I am glad that we finally can catch up with each other. Who’s idea was this again?’

‘The NoH8 campaign was my idea, the week in Paris together before the shoot was yours.’ Sharon answered while taking off her stained shirt.

‘Hmm, I’m a genius.’ Tarja’s comment was answered by a flying pillow that landed next to her, making her out a protest which the Dutch singer completely ignored.

‘Do you want to do something tonight? Because if not, I’m going to change into my pajamas.’

‘That, my friend, is an excellent idea.’

Without further words Tarja crawled off the bed and within seconds she had disappeared into the bathroom. Sharon smiled as she watched her and was reminded of one of the many reasons the two of them were friends. Tarja had these moments that she acted like a little child, and those never failed to make her laugh. Her thoughts were interrupted when her phone vibrated, letting her now her boyfriend has sent her a message. She answered the text while making her way to the bathroom and opened the door of it without knocking. The other woman was almost done changing her clothes and even though Sharon had a great imagination, this was not something she expected.

‘So, little hugging bears, huh?’ Tarja looked down at her pajama pants with a light blush before looking at Sharon and raising an eyebrow.

‘And, you’re going to sleep in those leather pants or what?’

‘No, Robert just texted me to ask if everything was alright here. It reminded me of the fact that we have to share this with our fans. Picture time!’

‘Wait, let me put on my shirt first!’

‘Oh, come on!’ Sharon protested while grabbing the smaller woman’s arm and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. ‘I’m not wearing a shirt so you aren’t either. Say _Paris_!’

Sharon smiled at her phone as she looked at the picture and tweeted it along with the line “A week off with my lovely girlfriend in Paris” before finally trading her clothes for her nightgown.

Only half an hour later they were sleeping peacefully next to each other, not aware of what they had caused on the internet…


	2. Day 1

** Day 1 **

 

The next day started in a way that Sharon never could have imagined.

She was woken up by a pillow that kept coming down on her until she had convinced Tarja that she was fully awake. The other woman seemed mad at her, but the light smile on her face said otherwise.

‘Why are you waking me like that?’ she asked with a harsh voice.

‘Oh, I’m sorry, I thought I was allowed to do that since I’m your _girlfriend_.”

‘What are you talking about?’ Once again the pillow came her way, but this time she could avoid it.

‘Last night you tweeted “A week off with my lovely girlfriend in Paris”, now our fans think we’re a lesbian couple. It’s even trending on Twitter and it’s your fault!’

‘How is it my fault that it’s trending on Twitter?!’ And the pillow came down once again.

‘Stop playing dumb!’

‘Stop hitting me!’ Sharon gave back while reaching up.

In a fast motion she took the pillow from Tarja before grabbing the other woman’s wrist. Even though the Finnish was sitting on Sharon, the Dutch woman was in control since she was much stronger than Tarja. It didn’t matter how hard she fought, Sharon was not letting go of her.

‘We could use this! Think about it! We’re doing a photo shoot for gay rights together, why not act like a couple to support it?’

‘I am married, you have three kids, nobody is going to believe we’re a lesbian couple.’

‘People are already believing it, they even tweet about it.’ Sharon grinned. ‘And now, get off of me.’

Surprising Tarja by her speed and strength, the older woman flipped them around and grinned down as she leaned over the Finnish singer. ‘Get ready, I’m going to show you the city of love, _sweetie._ ’

 

Only one hour later the singers stood under the monument that made the skyline of Paris so recognizable. Everywhere around them were people taking pictures and queuing to go upstairs, some children were running around to chase the pigeons away but Tarja’s eyes were set on the tip of the Eiffel tower.

‘I can’t believe you’ve never been here.’ Sharon laughed when the other woman had been staring in awe at the construction for almost 5 minutes.

‘I never had the chance… How tall is it?’

‘317 meters, if you don’t count the antennas on top of it.’

‘That’s… a lot…’

‘Are you afraid of heights?’ Sharon laughed as she saw how uncomfortable Tarja was getting.

‘Maybe…’

‘Well, that would explain why you’re short.’ Tarja looked at her from the corner of her eyes, receiving a grin from the other woman before she grabbed Tarja’s hand and pulled her towards one of the four legs.

‘No… Sharon…’

‘Relax,’ She smiled while looking back over her shoulder. ‘I’ll hold your hand.’

And Sharon did just as she had promised. The whole time while they were queuing she held Tarja’s hand and didn’t even let it go when she paid for the tickets. Even though it had felt a bit uneasy in the beginning, Tarja found comfort in the touch of the other woman’s hand as the doors of the elevator closed. The strokes of Sharon’s soft thumb relaxed her a bit as the iron instruction started moving and made noises as if it could collapse any minute. Just half a minute later the doors shoved open again and Tarja was the first one to step out of it, releasing the breath she’d been holding while still holding Sharon’s hand. Her anxiety disappeared for a moment when she saw the amazing view for the first time and Sharon pulled her towards the edge.

‘Wow… It’s beautiful up here…’

‘Yeah, I told you so.’ Sharon giggled. ‘Let’s take a picture, the fans will love it!’

Again without letting go of the other woman’s hand, Sharon took out her phone and leaned her head closer to Tarja’s to make sure they both fitted in the picture. Just on the moment she pushed down her finger the capture the moment, Tarja turned her head and gently placed a kiss on Sharon’s, making her smile widen even more.

‘Perfect.’ Sharon grinned, already uploading the picture on Twitter.

‘What would you think about a real kiss?’

‘With… you?’

‘No, with the guy that’s in control of the elevator.’ Tarja answered while rolling her eyes. ‘Of course with me! According to you we’re a couple, remember?’

‘I… Guess you’re right.’

Even though she said she was fine with it, she felt the hand that was holding Tarja’s began to sweat. The Finnish brought her free hand up to Sharon’s face and stroke a strand of dark hair behind her ear that the wind immediately blew away again. They were about to cross the border of friendship that they already had expanded by holding hands in public. She knew her view and bond with Tarja would change forever if they kissed each other, and she wasn’t sure if she was ready for that. Despite the fact that they’d been holding hands for the last 30 minutes, Sharon was still surprised of the softness of Tarja’s skin as the smaller woman stroke her cheek. The taller woman closed her eyes as Tarja started leaning in and she waited for their lips to meet. A small shiver crawled up her spine as her lips were tickled by Tarja’s and she needed to remind herself to do something before she was able to kiss back. Carefully she placed her hand on the other woman’s hip as their other hands were still linked, and she smiled as she tasted the smoothie Tarja had had with her breakfast.

They spent the rest of their day by sightseeing and watching a few street artists perform before they made their way to the Champs-Élysées. Even though they started out by just window shopping, they still where each carrying 3 shopping bags as they entered their hotel room again, their hands linked once again. Tarja immediately disappeared in the bathroom to freshen up, and just when Sharon though to have a few quiet minutes, she felt her cell phone vibrating.

‘What in hell are you doing?’ The voice of her boyfriend asked as she answered the call.

‘And a good evening to you too, Robert.’

‘The internet is filled with pictures and your new lover kissing, what are you doing? And when were you going to tell me you decided to become a lesbian?’

‘I didn’t decide to become a lesbian.’ Sharon sighed. ‘Tarja and I are just pretending to support the campaign.’

‘I don’t like it, at all. I don’t want you go around kissing other people just for fun.’

‘It’s not “just for fun”, it’s for the campaign. And it’s just Tarja, I thought you liked her?’

‘Not if she’s kissing my girlfriend!’

‘Then you won’t like her for the rest of this week.’

Before Robert had to chance to answer again, Sharon broke the connection and turned off her phone, preventing another call from him. She sighed as she tossed the phone on her nightstand and hid her face in her hands as she heard Tarja entering the room again. Tarja’s soft hand’s grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away, forcing her to face her.

‘Are you alright?’

‘Yeah, Robert is just being jealous again…’

‘You know we don’t have to do this, right? We can just quit…’

‘No, I want to do this. We need to show him there’s nothing wrong with being gay.’

‘Okay, fine, but I don’t want you to get in trouble…’

‘I won’t, I promise.’

A small smile appeared on Sharon’s face as she saw the worried look on her friend’s face and Tarja pecked her lips before getting up and walking to the other side of the bed. Only a few minutes later both women fell asleep, Tarja’s arm lightly wrapped around Sharon’s body to make sure she was okay.


	3. Day 2

** Day 2 **

****

Never had Tarja imagined that discovering a new land was so much fun.

She liked amusement parks and Tuomas made her love Disney, so when Sharon took her to Disneyland the next day, she was in heaven. Sharon had felt how the heartbeat of the Finnish had fastened when they entered the park hand in hand and she had smiled when she saw how happy Tarja was.

Once she was over the first shock of excitement, Tarja had dared Sharon to find her a ride she would be scared of, and that was the start of their competition. They took turns on choosing the next attraction with the hope the other one wouldn’t like it, but after an hour it was already clear there wouldn’t be a winner. Both of them turned out to love the fast and scaring rides, and they just ended up doing the same rides over and over again.

It was when they were queuing for the 5th time for the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster that the sky darkened and the first droplets fell not much later. It didn’t bother them in the beginning, but when the rain fell faster they decided the rollercoaster wasn’t worth being soaked to their socks and underwear and left the queuing line. Tarja grabbed Sharon’s hand while dragging her towards one of the shops to stand dry, but Sharon stopped in the middle of the crowed path.

‘Tarja, wait!’

‘What is it?!’

‘I...’ She was almost shouting to be heard over the rain and the other people, but lowered her voice when Tarja stood closer. ‘I always wanted to be kissed in the rain. Robert isn’t into that romantic stuff, but now you’re my girlfriend…’

Tarja broke her off as she placed her hands on the taller woman’s face, leaned up and kissed her. Their lips tasted as the rain they were standing in and wetted the hair Sharon tangled her fingers in. She smiled as Tarja pulled back and stroke one of the strands of dark hair that were glued to her face behind her ear.

‘Thank you.’ She whispered, barely hearable over the rain crashing down on the ground.

‘Can we go inside now? We’re going to get sick.’

Sharon nodded and grabbed the hand of her temporally girlfriend as they made their way to the closest shop. Tarja was surprised by the amount of merchandise they sold and within a few seconds she was standing in front of one if the huge shelves with stuffed movie characters. Sharon just watched her from a distance as she reminded herself that one day she had to come back here with her kids. Slowly she walked through the shop and for a moment she was pulled back towards her childhood. All her favorite characters were there, there was the lion king, Mickey Mouse, Alice, Pocahontas, and there even was a Star Wars corner Ruud would have love. As her eyes wandered through the store, she was unable to find Tarja until a small figure in the corner turned around. Sharon smiled as she saw the Bambi-bonnet she was wearing as the other woman almost hopped towards her.

‘I’m taking this one, Thumper always was my favorite character.’

‘You look cute with it.’ Sharon answered as she bumped Tarja’s nose. ‘What do you have in your hand?’

‘Oh! This one’s for you!’ The Finnish smiled as she placed the cap on Sharon’s head. ‘Look, you’re Perry! Or should I say Agent P?’

‘As long as you don’t call me _Babe_ I’m fine with anything. Oh look, it stopped raining already.’

Even though she now had a bonnet with her favorite Disney character on it, Tarja looked a bit disappointed when they left the shop again. They had decided to head back to the main park since the lightshow that would end the day would start in an hour, but Sharon’s attention was caught by something else before they made it to the castle.

‘Is that Jack Sparrow?!’ She shouted wile pointing to the guy that was posing with a little boy before coming over to them with a grin.

‘It’s _Captain_ Jack Sparrow.’

‘Tarja, can you make a picture? I just love him!’ Sharon asked while already offering her phone to her, but Tarja just crossed her arms.

‘I thought you loved me?’

With a grin Sharon cupped the other woman’s cheeks before leaning in and firmly pressing her lips on Tarja’s. The pirate let out a surprised sound and Sharon felt how her girlfriend froze for a second and her lips formed a smile before the Dutch singer pulled back.

‘Better?’

Without further protest Tarja took Sharon’s phone and made the picture of the two after which they traded since she also wanted a picture with the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow. As they thanked the man they noticed the amount of people that was making their way to the castle and decided to join them. There was still plenty of time left before the show would begin so they gladly took pictures with a group of fans that recognized them. The place was already crowded when they reached the castle, but they still managed to find a good spot where Tarja’s view wasn’t blocked by tall teenagers.

The kids in front of them were telling their parents about all the exciting things they still had to do, about the characters they just had to meet before they returned home, and Sharon smiled as their attention was suddenly pulled towards the castle of Cinderella.

She felt the warm skin of Tarja's hand brushing against her own as the light show in front of them began. Kids were pointing to the lighted castle when they recognized the face of their favorite character as flashes of cameras filled the night sky and Tarja's hand embraced hers.

Flames shot out of the castle, warming their faces for a second before they froze. Butterflies tickled Sharon's stomach and she was unsure if they were driven by the Disney magic or the warmth that was coming from the hand that lovingly held hers. Tarja leaned her head against the taller woman's shoulder as one of the so many firework moments started and suddenly Sharon didn't care anymore. It didn't matter if the feeling was caused by the so called magic or the beautiful woman next to her, she simply never wanted this moment to end.


	4. Day 3

** Day 3 **

****

There weren’t a lot of things that could make her day better when Sharon woke up in the arms of another person. She loved the warmth of another body pressed against her own, and her smile widened when she recognized the soft arm draped over her waist. Her fingers lightly danced over the hand that was resting on her stomach before she carefully turned around and faced the sleeping Tarja. Sharon saw a light smile crawling on the Finnish’ sweet lips as she returned the gesture and placed her arm around her waist, slowly drawing circles on her back. The small approving sound she received made the Dutch singer smile even more and she slipped her hand under the hugging-teddy bear-pajama.

Tarja’s face showed her enjoyment as Sharon slightly scratched her back, leaving it covered with goosebumps. She had a pretty good idea of the kind of dream the other woman was having and couldn’t help it to tease her a little more. Her long fingers followed the hem of the blue pajama pants before tracing the contours of her hips and being pulled back after a soft moan from the sleeping woman. Sharon bit her lip before leaning in and kissing Tarja’s lips, which finally woke her up. Slowly the green eyes opened, and when the Finnish was fully awake and realized what was going then narrowed again.

‘You… Are a mean person.’

‘Yeah, I know.’ Sharon grinned as she let her finger dance over her hip again. ‘But, there’s one more part of Paris that I want to show you. So, finish yourself off while I take a shower, I’ll save so warm water.’ She pecked Tarja’s lips a last time before getting out of the bed and disappearing in the bathroom, grinning again when the falling water couldn’t cover the soft moans.

 

Only an hour later they stood in front of what the local people called the scar of Paris, but Sharon had never understood them. She had always liked the glass pyramid of the Louvre and now tried to discover Tarja’s opinion about it, but her face showed nothing.

‘So, what do you think?’

‘Where are we?’

‘Are you telling me you don’t recognize the Louvre?’ Sharon laughed. ‘Man, do I have an uncultured girlfriend!’

‘I know the Mona Lisa is in here!’ Tarja protested as the other singer grabbed her hand and dragged her inside.

As usual there were a lot of people queuing to get into the museum, but after joining them for only half an hour they entered what was once just a castle. Tarja immediately was impressed by the first things she saw; human-sized marble statues. They were so realistic that Sharon actually had to pull her away from them. The taller woman held Tarja’s hand as they walked through the castle, telling her everything she knew about the paintings they passed, but she seemed to be unable to wipe the frown off her face. Since the Finnish had been disappointed by the size of the Mona Lisa, she was a bit cranky, especially after Sharon had told her it probably wasn’t even the real one since people were allowed to take pictures.

Not one of the paintings could impress her and Sharon was slightly getting tired of it. She knew there were a few paintings in the museum that could surprise everyone, was it not with their realistic details then it was their enormous dimensions. The only problem was that Sharon couldn’t really remember their places in the museum. They had been walking through the museum for already 4 hours, but there was not a single trace of Delacroix’ “ _Liberty Leading the People”_ or Gericault’s “ _The Raft of the Medusa”._ She still hoped she was going the right direction when they entered another hall, but sighed when she realized they had found the exhibition about African art.

‘Sharon, we’re lost. Let’s go do something else.’

‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know… Isn’t the rock and roll museum nearby?’

‘That’s in London, wrong country.’ Sharon answered crossing her arms. ‘Give me just one more chance to find those paintings, they’re really impressive! Please, _sweetie_?’

‘Fine, on one condition! We’ll ask people for directions!’

It’s surprising where getting the right directions can lead you in life. Only 15 minutes later Tarja was begging her girlfriend to show her more paintings of her new found favorite painters. They finally were in Sharon’s favorite part of the museum and she happily shared all the knowledge she had about treasures the museum held. She was glad that she had convinced Tarja of the beauty of 19th century art. Not once did the Finnish complain in the remaining 2 hours they walked around in the museum. Tarja leaned her head against the taller woman’s shoulder as they walked out hand in hand and sighed happily.

‘Thank you for showing me this.’

‘I’m glad you liked it in the end.’ Sharon smiled before kissing her head.

‘Can I choose what we do next?’

‘Do I have to be afraid?’

‘What if we go out for dinner, and then explore the night life of Paris?’

‘A “Yes” would have been enough, you know.’

‘Oh come on, it will be fun, _sweetie._ ’

Little did she know how much she was going to regret those words…


	5. Day 4

** Day 4 **

****

It was almost 1pm when for the first time in 2 hours another sound than soft breathing and the rustle of paper was heard. Sharon looked up from her book when she heard a soft groan as Tarja stirred, her body not ready yet to wake up. She just got a short glance of the bright green eyes before they closed again and the other woman reached for her head.

‘There’s a painkiller on your nightstand.’ Sharon giggled.

When they had left the bar the previous night around 2 am, Sharon had already assumed something like this would happen. Tarja had ordered one drink after another and had actually wanted to get one more when the Dutch woman had enough of her drunk singing. She decided to support Tarja on the moment she tried leaving the bar through the window and her arm had been around the smaller woman’s waist the entire walk to their hotel.

Tarja had her eyes closed when she swallowed the painkiller Sharon had put on her nightstand and groaned again when her head fell in her hands.

‘How much did I drink last night?’

‘Enough to ask me to marry you.’

‘I did what?’

‘Relax, I love you too.’ Sharon grinned as she saw Tarja’s surprised face. ‘Anyway, I assume you want to get rid of that hangover before the shoot tomorrow, so I suggest we just stay here today. And I also suggest you take a shower before going back to sleep, it will clear your head.’

Tarja looked at her for a second before she nodded and slowly crawled out of the bed. The grin on the other woman’s face returned as she saw how the Finnish held her head while taking careful steps towards the bathroom. It took her almost a full minute to walk the few meters to the door, but once she reached it, she sprinted inside and the grin on the other woman’s face disappeared. Worried she put her bookmark between the pages she was reading before hurrying over to the bathroom.

Slowly Sharon sat next to Tarja, who was kneeling over the toilet while emptying her stomach. She held back her long black hair when another wave of nausea hit Tarja and stroke her back as the smaller woman hid her face in her arms with a groan.

‘Do you want some water?’ After what Sharon suspected to be a nod, she stood and filled a glass with water without getting her eyes off the other woman.

‘Never am I drinking again, ever.’ Tarja groaned as she gladly accepted the glass and carefully took a sip.

‘And how many times have you said that before?’

‘Shut up.’

‘Get in the shower and go back to sleep, I promise you’ll feel better.’ Sharon said again, after which Tarja started her second try at taking a shower.

When the Finnish started to unbutton her pajama, Sharon went back to the bed where she laid down again with her book. It didn’t matter how good the book was, she just couldn’t concentrate on the story anymore. Her mind kept wandering to the naked form of Tarja’s body in the shower, how the water crashed down on it before sliding down her soft skin. To how the woman was probably leaning her head against the cold tiles to think the throbbing headache away and to the coconut-scented shower gel she used. Sharon shook the thoughts away when the sound of running water suddenly stopped and announced the end of Tarja’s shower. 5 minutes later the Finnish woman stepped outside and certainly looked better than before. With her hair still damp she crawled back in bed, cuddling up to Sharon and resting her head on her shoulder.

‘Thanks for taking care of me.’ She mumbled as she draped her arm over the reading woman to hug her closer.

‘That’s just my job as a good girlfriend.’

‘What are you reading?’

‘A book.’

‘No shit.’ Tarja sighed as she closed her eyes. ‘Can it be used as a bedtime story?’

‘It’s Dutch.’

‘I don’t care, I like your accent.’

‘Alright, but I’m not going to translate it.’ Sharon giggled. ‘Hij zat achter de toetsen en zij lag naakt op haar buik bovenop de vleugel, speels en uitdagend, alsof…’

She stopped reading from the moment the first soft snore sounded next to her and she smiled. She loved to watch the sleeping face of the smaller woman and she loved to feel her so close while she did so. Carefully Sharon ran a finger through the damp black hair before kissing it and whishing she could freeze time. In the last few days the two women had become very close, partly because of the fact they pretended to be a couple, partly because they honestly liked each other. Tomorrow would be their last day together, but Sharon wanted to push that thought aside. Tomorrow was far away from today, and tomorrow everything would change.

People would stop tweeting and writing articles about the two of them once they revealed it was just a stunt. After tomorrow they wouldn’t be a couple anymore, they would return to being just friends living kilometers apart instead of two lovers in the same hotel room. Everything would return to how it was, and Sharon wasn’t sure if she was ready for that.

She had grown to love every touch of the other woman, she no longer held her hand to get attention, but because she wanted to. She liked the feeling of her lips caressing Tarja’s, the warmth of her body pressed against her own and the bright shade of green that her eyes held.

A sigh escaped her lips as she laid her book aside and carefully wrapped her arms around the sleeping body that was curled up against her. While one hand played with the soft long hair, the other drew small circles on Tarja’s hip that turned into letters after a while. After confessing her love for the Finnish singer in invisible letters, Sharon closed her eyes and breathed in the coconut-scent before snuggling closer to Tarja. She pushed tomorrow away with all her strength while cherishing the moments of today.


	6. Day 5

** Day 5 **

****

It was only 9 am when the two singers stood in a studio in the heart of Paris. Tarja’s hangover was gone and thanks to Sharon’s caring she was back the star everyone knew. They had already changed in the white clothes that were uniform for the NOH8 campaign, just as the pained logo on their cheeks, when the photographer finally walked in with a smile on his face.

‘Good morning ladies! I am Adam.’ He smiled while he shook their hands and the women introduced themselves. ‘So, tell me, I’m dying to know what’s going on between the two of you.’

‘It’s just a joke so the campaign would get some extra attention.’ Tarja laughed. ‘We’re just really close friends.’

After sharing the ideas for the shoot, Adam’s assistant brought them the last part of the ‘uniform’, duck tape. The tape represented the fact that people are being silenced by certain rights they don’t have, such as not being able to get married. Tarja wanted to help Sharon with the tape, but she was stopped by the Dutch.

‘Wait! I want to kiss you one more time before our lips taste like glue.’

The shorter woman just shrugged and leaned up to kiss Sharon in front of everyone present, just as she had done the previous 4 days. When they finally broke apart and had their mouths taped, Sharon and Tarja took their places in front of the white screen. Since both of them were used to pose for a camera everything went smooth. The would hug while staring at each other’s eyes or the camera, kiss with the two layers of tape between their lips and Tarja even jumped on the taller woman’s back before the assistant came up with the first attribute. The two singers giggled as they saw the handcuffs, but quickly turned serious after that. They intertwined the fingers of the hands that got cuffed together while standing with their backs against each other.

After the handcuffs the chains followed, tying them together so close that it should be at least a bit awkward, but it wasn’t at all. They liked being close together and Tarja even had wrapped her arms around Sharon’s neck to close so every inch of their bodies were pressed together.

With the break and the individual shots included, it took them almost 5 hours to finish the shoot. The photographer’s assistant was the one to make the last photo, one of the two women with Adam that the singers immediately posted on their twitter accounts. Only a few seconds later another bomb exploded on the social network site, making the topic trending worldwide in just a few minutes. Almost all of their fans were proud of them for joining the campaign, and even though most people were relieved to read the women were just pretending, there also was a bunch that was disappointed that the cute couple wasn’t really together. Sharon was one of those last people, and she wasn’t able to hide it anymore when they entered their hotel room for the last time.

‘You’ve been quiet since we left the studio.’ Tarja noticed while closing the door. ‘Is something wrong?’

‘No, it’s just… I’m going to miss this, I really had a great time with you.’

‘Yeah, I really enjoyed this time with you.’ She smiled while sitting next to Sharon on the bed.

‘I enjoyed being with you… I don’t want it to end.’

They just looked at each other while their fingers lightly touched. Both of them were well aware of the fact Sharon was slowly leaning in for what they both expected to be their very last kiss, but surprised themselves by repeating the caressing of each other’s lips. For the first time they deepened the kiss as Tarja’s hand found its way underneath Sharon’s shirt, covering the skin with goosebumps as she stroke it. The other woman responded by pushing her down on the bed before taking of her own shirt and looking down on Tarja with an insecure look.

Slowly they continued undressing each other and exploring each other’s bodies, caressing ever piece of new skin that appeared. Neither of them had ever really been with another woman, but as time passed by and their touches became more confident, the nerves slowly disappeared. Sighs and soft moans filled the room as they discovered the parts they only knew on their own bodies and arousal filled the air.

Everything felt as if it was the first time for Sharon. The first time someone really loved her like this, the first time she truly loved another human being. It felt like it was the first time someone made love to her, the first time she really felt so alive. Tarja held her hand as she guided her to a place only the two of them existed and their fingers were still intertwined as the last moan rolled over her lips, the touch of the Finnish woman being her only connection to reality.

Both of them were still trying to catch their breaths as they lied next to each other and their bodies, covered in sweat, started to cool down. When Sharon slowly came down from her moment in heaven, she realized they had expressed their love without thinking about anything but each other. It had really happened, and it had felt amazing. There was no way back, and even if there was one, she wouldn’t want to take it. She turned her head when the goosebumps on her skin returned and immediately met those green eyes that fascinated her more than ever. They stared at each other while trying to read their minds, discover what they were thinking, their smiles only showing how they felt. One question circled above them in the cold air of the room, ready to cut through the euphoria, and even though it was quietly whispered, it couldn’t have sounded louder.

‘Now what?’


End file.
